NSF House Funding Approval FY2020
Policy
Appropriations Committee Approves Fiscal Year 2020 Commerce-Justice-Science Funding Bill
May 22, 2019 | House Committee on Appropriations
The House Appropriations Committee this week approved the fiscal year 2020 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies bill on a vote of 30 to 22. The bill funds the Departments of Commerce and Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies. The legislation contains $73.895 billion in discretionary budget authority, an increase of $9.78 billion above the fiscal year 2019 level.
Brazilian Scientists Strive to Turn Politicians into Allies
May 23, 2019 | Nature
Brazil’s scientists are fighting back against President Jair Bolsonaro’s plans to slash funding for research and education programmes. Researchers have joined with members of Brazil's legislature, the National Congress, to highlight the strategic role that science, technology, and education play in the country’s economic and social development.
Report Puts Scientific Replicability and Reproducibility Under the Microscope
May 23, 2019 | American Institute of Physics
The National Academies released a report this month that examines how reproducibility and replicability function as touchstones of scientific rigor and unpacks the challenges scientists encounter in upholding them. Congress required the National Science Foundation to initiate the study two years ago through the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, responding to widespread concerns about the reliability of scientific findings in fields such as biomedicine and psychology.
How European Scientists Will Spend €100 Billion
May 22, 2019 | Nature
Politicians don’t win prizes for speed, but the European Union’s parliament and the leaders of its member states made record time this year when they hammered out an agreement that could supply researchers in Europe with more than €100 billion (US$113 billion) over 7 years.
Science in the News
A Nose for Science
May 23, 2019 | NIH Director’s Blog
Our nose does a lot more than take in oxygen, smell, and sometimes sniffle. This complex organ also helps us taste and, as many of us notice during spring allergy season when our noses get stuffy, it even provides some important anatomic features to enable us to speak clearly.
A Cognitive Neuroscientist Warns That the U.S. Justice System Harms Teen Brains
May 22, 2019 | Science News
A teenager’s brain does not magically mature into its reasoned, adult form the night before his or her 18th birthday. Instead, aspects of brain development stretch into a person’s 20s — a protracted fine-tuning with serious implications for young people caught in the U.S. justice system, argues cognitive neuroscientist B.J. Casey of Yale University.
Noninvasive Electrophysiological Biomarker for Parkinson's Disease
May 20, 2019 | EurekAlert!
Novel measures of brain activity associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) can be detected with scalp electrodes, according to a new analysis published in eNeuro. Such a marker of PD — detected using a noninvasive, affordable approach — could improve management of the disease by doctors and patients, particularly in rural areas.
